Cancer patient, 43, loses lifeline as NHS delays

Tumours grow too big for treatment after six months of waiting for approval to try new life-lengthening radiotherapy on breast cancer patient

Suzanne Lloyd has been denied drugs which might have lengthened her life by years (Handout)
A breast-cancer sufferer has waited so long for the NHS to decide whether to
pay for her treatment that her tumours have grown too big for therapy that
could have given her two more years to live.

Suzanne Lloyd, 43, who has advanced breast cancer, which has spread to her
liver, was due to receive a new form of radiotherapy. Three consultants at
Hammersmith hospital in west London made a formal request for the treatment
to NHS managers in February. It took a further six months — until the end of
July — for Lloyd to be informed of the trust’s decision to refuse funding.

The delay meant that the treatment, called selective internal radiation
therapy (SIRT), cannot be used to treat her cancer.

Lloyd, from Deal in Kent, said: “When I applied I was the perfect candidate
for the treatment. Because of the delay, the tumours got slightly too big
for